Lights Out
by DixieMame
Summary: Tech E. Coyote has to face his greatest foe...his own emotions! Is he up to challenge of facing off Black Velvet's advances, or will her new plan control all of Acmetropolis? [Cancelled]


_My first ever Loonatics Fanfic! I got addicted soon after watching the episode which introduced Black Velvet (I pretty much get sucked into anything as long as it hints coupling...yes, pity me) and the show has decent potential. If it had better writers, maybe, it could have turned out better. Ah well. _

I want to create a small series of Loonatics fics, with some possible fancharacter involvement. If this fic is received well, I may get work on a possible Ace/Lexi, involvement with Pepe Le Pew and Yosemite Sam, and whatever else I've got up my sleeve.

As for my Sonic fanfics...well, I don't control inspiration. We'll see what happens.

Enjoy!

Edit : First line deleted. I saw this line in a really great Tech/Velvet story, and I thought it came from her episode, but after re-watching the episode, I realized she did not - and I had stolen a line from someone's story! So I've taken it out. Less dramatic begining,but less guilty life for me.

* * *

A sharp, beeping noise hit Tech's ears, repeating at an interval of every five seconds. The coyote grumbled, flimsily reaching out and slapping a palm down on the device, shutting it off. He yawned, and then rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He had spent another long night in his lab, despite the warnings of his companions. But how could anyone sleep with an unfinished hyper-plutonic-laser-cannon lying around? He yawned again, and stood up, ready to start his day.

His ears perked up, already hearing the noise escalating from the dining room. It seemed like a typical morning. Lexi was mixing diet drinks and shakes and whatnot into her morning Java, despite everyone's repeated attempts to tell her she was not, nor ever would be, fat. Rev was yammering about something he had seen the previous night on TV, while Slam was half-listening, half-inhaling everything on the table. Ace was not in the room, which most likely meant he had woken up early to kick in some extra training. Finally, Duck was ogling the TV, eyes locked on his dream girl, Misty Breeze, as she predicted stormy sights for Acmetropolis.

"Good morning." Tech called out upon entering, heading for the cabinets.

Lexi looked over, and frowned. "Morning…man, you look half dead. Did you stay up late working again?"

"You-really-need-to-stop-doing-that-you-always-tell-us-that-sleep-is-very-very-very-important-and-then-you–go-off-and-stay-up-all-night-I-mean-how-hypocritical-can-you-get?" Rev immediately added, and then just as quickly resumed his story about working lambs, or jerking hams. With his speech, it was hard to tell.

Tech rolled his eyes, sliding a few pieces of bread into a toaster. "True genius is - "

"Never appreciated." Duck finished, eyes still glued to the television. "We've heard it a thousand times. Now, can you keep it down? Misty Breeze is talking, and she must be heard!"

Rev twirled a finger near his head, the classic 'crazy' signal, and Slam sniggered between grunts and chews.

"We're just lookin' out for you." Lexi sighed, and took a sip of her strange drink.

"Not to mention the rest of Acmetropolis." A male voice replied. Eyes turned towards it, as Ace walked into the room, wiping sweat off of his head with a towel. "We can't fight evil if we're half asleep."

"All right, all right, I'll try not to do it again!" Tech sighed, grabbing the toast as it popped out the next second. But before he could take a bite, a loud, whining sound filled the air, accompanied by flashing red lights.

"Zadavia's a callin'!" Ace announced, even though everyone knew clearly what the signals meant. Without another word, the Loonatics ran to the meeting room, where Zadavia's image had already appeared.

"Greetings, Loonatics." She addressed in her always eerily calm voice. "I hate to interrupt your breakfast, but apparently villains don't sleep in late. There's been a break-in at the Acmetropolis Power Plant. The guards were knocked out, and their computer system is being hacked into."

"Who's-the-big-jerk-off-who's-causing-all-this-mess-and-distress-and-ill-mannered-ness?" Rev asked at once, already squirming in his seat for sitting still for too long.

Zadavia gestured below her, where another holographic image began to play. It was a large screen, and judging by the quality, it came from a camera, most likely the power plant's security tapes. The villain was typing rapidly into the console, and although the lights had been severely dimmed, it more than obvious who she was. Yet Zadavia told them. "Black Velvet."

That caught Tech's attention at once. He had been eating the toast he had carried with him, but he jerked his head up at the name. He swallowed, hard, and tried to calm himself before his fellow Loonatics noticed his change in demeanor. "Can't imagine why she'd be there." He said after he cleared his throat. "She loathes the light, and that's the biggest source of it in the city."

"No worry, she'll be enjoying the darkness of a jail cell soon enough!" Ace stood up, his face showing excitement for the upcoming fight. "Let's go!"

"Hold on a second!" Duck stood up as well, glaring at Tech. "Should we let the genius join us this time? She did make him into his own little zombie last time!"

Tech narrowed his eyes, obviously annoyed. "I'd like to see you handle shadows in your brain controlling what you do."

"But she may want to use you again." Lexi murmured, frowning. "We should at least take a precaution."

Ace nodded in agreement. "The rest of us will take her head on, and Tech'll stay on the roof and hack into the systems from there and undo the damage Velvet's done."

Tech grumbled, but nodded. He didn't want to feel like a burden, and that hadn't exactly helped. He was positive if he were in another fight with Black Velvet, he'd win. But that wasn't the only reason for his irritation. Ace's comment about the darkness had been too rude for Tech's liking. After all, as Black Velvet had told Tech himself, she never wanted the gift of the shadows. The meteor had horribly scarred her eyes, and without the use of her goggles, she could barely see. Trying to send all of Acmetropolis had been wrong, he knew, but…

But what? He blinked as he began to head for his own lab, the others around him, ready to gather useful weapons. This train of thought had stopped in his head plenty of times since he first encountered the dark beauty. He knew he wasn't supposed to sympathize with the villains, but Black Velvet had been different. She had confided in him, and while Tech wasn't exactly an expert on the female gender, he knew good looks when he saw them.

He shook his head, trying to concentrate. Slam looked over at him, and raised a few grunts of concern, but Tech dismissed it with a wave of his hand. He opened up a panel from the wall, revealing several oddly shaped yellow goggles. "These should be able to help you see through her shadows, as if you were surrounded by total light. Otherwise, our powers should be enough."

"Can I get something in a mauve?" Lexi asked, but her grin showed her teasing. Tech rolled his eyes again, and the group moved out.

* * *

The Looantics, minus Tech, walked quietly through the wide hall of the Acmetropolis Power Plant. They were on their toes, suspicious of the lack of activity. They had met no resistance, which was obviously unusual. 

Slam pointed to the nearest door, on the left. He spewed his usual garbled language, with 'in there, in there' meshed in.

"What-makes-you-so-sure-Slam?"

The Tasmanian devil pointed to the ground below the door. All the others door had shown light in that space, and this was the only one in darkness.

"Well I could have figured that out!" Duck spat out.

"Then why didn't you?" Ace retorted, smirking.

Duck glared at him, but shut his beak. He snapped his feathered fingers, causing a glowing orb to appear in his palm, his usual attack. He hurled it at the door, and it slammed the metal door onto the floor. The heroes quickly ran in, and spotted Black Velvet hunched over the gigantic computer console, still typing.

"Put 'em up, gorgeous!" Ace ordered, but she didn't move.

"You heard the man!" Lexi added, placing her fingers to her head, and positioning her ears right. In the next second, her famous Brain Blast bounced away from her noggin and smacked right into the villain. However, instead of any screams of pain or an attack back, she suddenly distorted into small violet curls on the floor.

"That-wasn't-her! It's-a-trap-it's-a trap-it's-a-trap!" Rev looked around wildly, and his theory was quickly proven as Black Velvet's Shadow Minions began to seep into the room and surround the cluster of anthros.

Slam sputtered about, releasing the question 'Tech?' and for once, everyone knew what he was talking about.

* * *

Tech kneeled on the roof, twitching his nose as a slight gust of wind played with his ears. He undid the straps on his jetpack, and began to activate a device he had brought from the lab. He hadn't officially named it, as it was still in its early stages, but he figured now would be a good time as any to test it out. From the bottom, it looked like a sharp blue pen, but on top contained a small screen and three multi-colored buttons. He stabbed it into the floor below him, and began to press the buttons in a complicated sequence. It was designed to locate all of the electrical currents inside a building, locate the source, and hack into it. He was so deep-set into his work that he never saw the kick from behind coming. 

The coyote yelped in surprise, his body sliding across several roof tiles as he tried to gather his wits. His problems only escalated, as the last tile he had landed on proved to be incredibly weak, and collapsed under him. He fell through the roof into perfect darkness, and after an estimated fifteen seconds, his body landed harshly on his behind in a sitting position. An odd arrangement, but it had been forced, as he had landed on some sort of chair. To make matters worse, four sounds of _VWIP_ hit his ears, and before he could register what was going on, he felt his ankles and wrists restrained down.

Dim lights flickered above him, enough for him to at least see his surroundings. The room was small, perhaps once a supply room, but obvious modifications had been made, screens and technology clasping onto each wall. Tech's eyes widened, everything falling into place into his mind. "She turned this into a control room for the entire plant!"

"Exactly, baby." From the same spot he had fallen, Black Velvet leapt down and landed gracefully on her feet. She brushed aside a few loose hairs on her face before smiling down at her prisoner. "Did you honestly think I'd expose myself directly to those security cameras?"

"Today must be an off day for me." Tech growled, struggling with his restraints. His eyes bounced off the room, trying to find a solution to his situation.

Velvet was having none of that. She grabbed Tech by the snout, and waved a tsking finger. "It's rude to look away when someone's talking to you."

"And holding someone hostage is your idea of being polite?" Tech muttered, trying to shake her off. "Trying to use your Shadow powers on me again? How terribly unoriginal."

Velvet let go of his nose, and smiled again. Yet, somehow, this sinister smirk was different. It startled Tech a little. She leaned forward, holding onto the armrests, until they were nose to nose. "I was thinking of a different type of persuasion."

Little warning bells rang off in Tech's mind. He didn't like where this was going. "Oh yeah?" He spat back, a bit of fake courage planted in his voice. "And just what would that be?" He immediately regretted asking.

As much of a genius as Tech was, he did not think that Velvet was take one of her hands, press it against a side of his face, and push her lips onto his.

The little warning bells became **blaring warning sirens**.

Tech froze – although he couldn't really move anyway – right where he sat. He had never trained for this, and never thought it possible. His normally calm brain was exploding in sheer panic, and it was certainly not helping that he was enjoying on this on some level. He was a male, after all, and right now, a rather interested one.

Sensing her success, Velvet pulled back, chuckling. "How was that?"

Tech blinked once. He didn't feel comfortable answering that. "What's wrong with you!" he quickly shot back, his tone a little more hysterical than he had planned.

She didn't seem to mind, preoccupying herself by fiddling with his left ear between her fingers. It jolted nerves in Tech's body he didn't even realize existed. "Come now, Tech, in this day and age people have become more open minded to human and animal attraction."

"Like I'm going to believe any of that." Tech tried to reply, forcing his voice to stay neutral. "You could have just as easily pulled Ace into this stunt, or Duck, or - "

"But I didn't." Velvet interrupted, all but sitting in his lap by now. "I choose you, just like I choose you for my first brilliant plan."

"Because I'm the only one who could build that ridiculous device in your flying fortress." Tech reasoned with a roll of his eyes.

Velvet took a firm hold of his chin, forcing him to look back at her. "Because you're the only I wanted." Her voice took a soft tone, and Tech found himself reluctantly gazing at her. "I've done my homework, baby. We're not that different." She traced his triangular symbol with a finger, and Tech struggled to hold back a shudder. "Unappreciated geniuses. Outcasts. Surely you've seen how people treat you, outside of your headquarters. There aren't any other anthros for miles, and even if you have saved their lives more times than they can count, the people of Acmetropolis don't appreciate you. Not even your own team members trust you. I'm the only one you can really count on…" She leaned in again, threatening another delicious kiss. "We didn't choose to have our powers…but we can choose who to have for ourselves…"

_KA-CRASH!_ "Step away from the coyote and no one gets hurt!"

Velvet leapt off like a startled jackrabbit, landing right next to the prisoner's chair. Tech felt the blush finally drain from his cheeks…oh, no…had he actually been leaning in for her lips!

The door had been busted open, and the Loonatics stood there in all their glory. Ace slapped his sword down onto his palm, grinning. "Actually, I take that back. We're probably gunna hurt you anyway."

Velvet's gentle manner and disposition vanished in an instant, replaced by cold anger. "You should learn when you're not wanted!"

"Oh, someone's gunna learn a lesson, but it's not gunna be us!" Ace retorted, running in and slashing his sword horizontally in her direction. Velvet jumped back easily, and slid up one of her sleeves, revealing a black square attached to her arm.

"I hate to kiss and run, but I'll be sure to pick up where we left off!" She pointed upwards, and a rope exploded from the box, a sharp dagger at the end to cling to the broke roof. In the next second, the rope zoomed her upwards into the sky.

"Duck, go after her, we'll free Tech!" Ace ordered, pointing where she had disappeared.

Duck nodded, his eyes glowing momentarily, and in a flash of rainbow colors, he too had left without a trace. Slam jogged over to his captured companion, and began to feverishly rip out the cuffs holding Tech down. The genius was quick to stand up and rub his sore wrists.

"Are-you-okay-Tech-you-looked-like-you-were-in-a-real-jam-we-would-have-gotten-here-earlier-but-Black-Velvet-set-up-a-trap-and-we-had-our-own-problems-but-hey-all's-well-that-end's-well!" Rev speedily asked, explained, and concluded, looking Tech over.

Lexi decided to give her friend the short version. "What'd she do to you?" She touched Tech's shoulder, looking concerned.

Tech's mind blanked for a moment. "In…interrogation." He finally coughed out.

Had he ever lied to them before? He couldn't recall.

In a split second, Duck reappeared like a bolt of lightning in front of Ace. "She's flown the coop."

Ace growled, but shook his head. "At least we got here before she did any serious damage." Which, he thought to himself, was quite unusual. It barely looked like she had done anything. What was she really up to? "Tech, can you fix the power plant systems?"

Tech nodded, and walked over to one of the makeshift consoles, rapidly typing away. Such work was child's play for him, which allowed his mind to wander off.

_We didn't choose to have our powers…but we can choose who to have for ourselves…_

An off day indeed.

End Of Chapter One.


End file.
